It’s been nearly a full calendar year since the Dallas Mavericks played with fans in attendance at the American Airlines Center. That is set to change on Monday night, as the Mavs will welcome back 1,500 fans when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Although 1,500 fans is a drop in the bucket completed to the AAC’s 20,000 capacity, this is an encouraging step towards things eventually getting back to normal. Access to Monday night’s game will be limited to fans who are COVID-19 vaccinated essential workers. That list will include medical professionals, police officers, food services, firefighters and more.

The last time the Mavs played in front of a home crowd was on March 11 last year when they defeated the Denver Nuggets in a game that will be mostly remembered for being the game where the NBA officially suspended it’s season as both teams were still playing.

Perhaps the presence of home fans will be what the Mavs need to make them look more lively on the AAC floor. Dallas is a respectable 7-7 on the road this season, but just 2-7 at home. And four of those seven home losses have been in embarrassing blowout fashion, with the most recent one being a 147-116 beat-down at the hands of the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. 

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Hopefully, Mavs fans can give their team a much-needed jolt as they attempt to climb their way back into the Western Conference playoff picture. Although the Mavs are just four games back of the 4-seed in the West, they could be buried sooner than later if their trend losing 10 games in 13 tries continues.

DallasBasketball.com will of course also be in attendance to bring you a first-hand account of the game ... and more.

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